Which Laptop?? PC or Mac? Please Help :-)

I am looking to buy a new laptop from anything between £200-£800. PC or MAC.

Im having a little trouble deciding which would be best. As there are so many makes and types of PC laptops, it's very difficult to make the decision. Also, aswell as the laptops there may be additonal software costs involved. Here are my requirements

*Browsing the internet, writing letters, and playing music.

*Fairly Portable and Lightweight- will be using it to commute occasionally

*GOOD SOUND CARD! for Recording Music- I currently dont have any music software which is why 'Garageband' on the macbook appealed.

*Uploading pictures from my samsung phone onto the laptop, and voice clips from 'Olympus' dictaphone. The software to do this isnt compatible with a Mac...which is a major downfall, unless you run windows on a macbook. Which is going to be more costly....

*Virus- Free...I hear mac has built in firewire and less prone to virus's. Would I have to buy extra software to cover this on a pc? Norton etc.?

*Also i am not a big gamer, but I would like to run the latest football manager game 2011 so must be able to run 3d graphics and fit the system requirements.

*Good Make- Preferably soemthing which is proven to last for a good duration of time.

I understand this is alot to take in, but any help in the right direction would be much apreciated.

So you don't require it for business use.Should have posted in the helproom would get far more replies.try the contact the forum editor link and ask him to move this to the help room.

*Fairly Portable and Lightweight- will be using it to commute occasionallyA cheap netbook will do what you want and be easily portable

*GOOD SOUND CARD! for Recording Music- I currently dont have any music software which is why 'Garageband' on the macbook appealed.Recording or playing? or do you mean just saving downloaded music or ripping CDs to the hard drive?There are many free good music programs to do that

*Uploading pictures from my samsung phone onto the laptop, and voice clips from 'Olympus' dictaphone. The software to do this isnt compatible with a Mac...which is a major downfall, unless you run windows on a macbook. Which is going to be more costly....Looks like a PC then

*Virus- Free...I hear mac has built in firewire and less prone to virus's. Would I have to buy extra software to cover this on a pc? Norton etc.?

Windows also has built in firewall again there are many good free security programs AVAST MALWAREBYTEs or windows own Microsoft Security Essentials.Macs can get viruses but they are less prevalent, that will change as Macs become more popular

*Also i am not a big gamer, but I would like to run the latest football manager game 2011 so must be able to run 3d graphics and fit the system requirements.Better tell us the requirements for the game then.probably rules out a netbook now.

*Good Make- Preferably something which is proven to last for a good duration of time.There all out of date as soon as they hit the shelves. Always something new and better out next week :0)For reliability steer clear of the cheaper makes such a Acer, my preference for reliability is HP still using a 10 year old one and have another thats nearly 17 now.

Mac comes with great privileges and though it usually comes at a higher price, there are applications that can only be enjoyed with a Mac like iTunes, QuickBooks, Safari, and many other fun and engaging apps... However, for a person like me who only care about its compatibility with the printing peripherals that I use from this site http://www.inkjetsuperstore.com/lexmark-16-black-ink-cartridge-remanufactured
even an ordinary PC will definitely do.

If you were a business user that need to do a lot of high graphic work, i.e. Desktop publishing,technical drawing or graph work, the Apple / Mac system is best for your needs, however for what you say you want Windows may be better.

I suggest you go to a store like PCWorld and try the different systems to get a better feel of what is right for you.

Well unless your doing graphics or something along those lines you don't really need a mac, they are pretty but i find that they can be a pain sometimes..I suggest a PC, I would also be incline to suggest a netbook but im not sure how well your game would run on that and you would need an external drive. These days though laptops are lighter and more compact anyway so take your pick. In addition i have a great dislike for Norton, its a nuisance and it remains in your laptop even after you delete sometimes it feels like a virus in itself..these days theres quality anti software for free you just have to look.